Lung cancer brain metasis

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Hello, my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer 2022 right lung, had surgery successfully then his left lung had cancerous cells 2024 and had radiotherapy that treated it successfully. However this year gone in Nov 2025 he found out he had a 5cm large mass in his right brain believed to have spread from the lungs. He had surgery 2nd Dec and consultant says it went well and majority of the mass has been removed. We haven’t had a lot of info given but he is now waiting for targeted radiotherapy as the gap is too large for him to have radiotherapy initially at the first hospital and they believe there is more risk and to have targetted radiotherapy as a better/safe way to treat.

He has been on dexamethasone for 2 months or so and had pretty good stability, overall not too bad health, mainly breathlessness and mild forgetfulness. We had MRI results back after he had that done prior to radiotherapy planning and they have said he has some progression of cancer still. Realistically, what are the chances he will get better/what is his prognosis? Is there different treatment that can also help?

  • Dear Bmoi,

    My name is Alison and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurses with Macmillan Cancer support. Thank you for getting in touch with us and I hope you find the online community a helpful and supportive environment.

    I’m really glad you reached out — this is an incredibly hard situation to be in, and the uncertainty around brain metastases is often the hardest part. At Macmillan we do not have access Bmoi to a patients NHS notes or files and therefore cannot advise in specific patient’s cases.

    You have not mentioned Bmoi which type of Lung cancer he has, whether it is Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) | Macmillan Cancer Support  or Non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) | Macmillan Cancer Support. This is important regarding both treatment options and prognosis.

    It would be best to speak to your dad’s treatment team which includes his cancer nurse specialist (CNS) at the hospital or his consultant.  Both can be reached via the hospital switchboard, and you can leave a message with the consultant’s secretary.

    I realise that this is a difficult time for you, please reach out to our support line Bmoi for a chat or if you have any further questions for us.

    Kind Regards

    Alison W, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

    You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email

    Ref/PN